Entrepreneurs may apply for rescheduling and restructuring of repayment

14 March 2024

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KUALA LUMPUR: Financing agencies under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative (MEDC) has no plans to provide a special moratorium for Micro small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) entrepreneurs.

Dato’ Ramanan Ramakrishnan the Deputy Minister of MEDC said at the Dewan Rakyat in response to the question by Sungai Besar Member of Parliament.

“However, for entrepreneurs facing difficulties in loan repayments, they can have further discussions with financing agencies under MEDC to apply for rescheduling and restructuring of repayment,” he said.

In answer to Members of Sungai Besar and Betong who raised questions on efforts carried out by financing agencies under MEDC to facilitate financing applications from entrepreneurs, he said the ministry has emphasized that its agencies should facilitate the application process for financing from entrepreneurs.

To achieve this several actions have been taken, he said adding that TEKUN Nasional has reduced the documentation requirements from 17 documents to just 4 documents for TEKUN financing schemes. The approval period for financing has also been reduced to 7 working days compared to the previous 21 working days, and disbursement is now done within 3 working days.

SME Bank processes applications on average within 21 working days, compared to the previous 30 working days, while Bank Rakyat has reduced the approval period for micro-financing from 10 days to 6 working days.

“Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) has managed to expedite the disbursement of financing within 10 days, compared to the previous 16 days. Pernas has taken the initiative to digitize the financing application process, which will be implemented in July 2024.”

MEDC agencies that offer financial assistance, such as loans under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) and grants under SME Corp., as well as Micro Financing for Street Vendors and Small Traders (MPPK) under Bank Rakyat, do not consider CTOS and CCRIS assessments for government-funded sources of funding.